Make Me a Believer
by CelticChocolateLover
Summary: Dave Bautista is through with Melina Perez, and all the slut and ho's like her. Vince assigns Valencia Burton, a fiery Italian as his assistant. Reluctantly, they bond and everything is going great until Dave finds a file on the demons that she has hidden so well. Will it get too hot for them to handle, or will they cool each other out?
1. Heartbreaker

"They don't pay me enough to deal with this shit." That was thought that went through Sophia's head when she was shoved to the side by the group known to the WWE Universe as The Shield. She desperately wanted to give them a piece of her mind, but she knew where that would get her: in the unemployment line. She was walking down the hallway to her next client's lockerroom so she could give them their program for tonight.

Sophia ignoring the snobby looks from some of the divas that passed by her. This had been the case since she had started working here. It was no secret that Sophia wasn't exactly "diva" beautiful. She was reminded of that daily by the people that she worked with. Anytime she would come in with a smile on her face, it would quickly be wiped off by someone's cruel comment or action. So of course, there was no purpose in her trying to invite her ultimate crush to the bar to have a drink.

Arriving at her destination, she knocked on his door and waited. Hearing things shuffling around, the door finally opened up and there Taker stood there in all his glory and was staring at her. She was speechless for a moment. Even after he spoke, she still found herself speechless. Only when he stepped back inside and was going to close the door did she find her voice.

"Taker, wait! I have something for you." He huffed before turning around. She could easily tell that he wasn't in the best of moods. He leaned against the door frame. "What do you want?" Sophia handed him the program, trying to from herself not to shiver at his deep Texan accent. She thought it was best to leave so she didn't embarrass herself anymore. She only made it halfway down the hall until she heard heavy footsteps following her and someone yelling for her.

"Hey, come back! What the fuck does this mean?" He thrust the paper in her face. She glanced at the paper, and then looked at him. "It says that you have a match with CM Punk. You are supposed to wrestle him." Judging from the roll of his eyes, he was highly annoyed.

"This is impossible! Vince can't do this to me! I'm the Lord of Darkness!" He went on ranting and raving with his brogue becoming more pronounced the angrier he became. By now he was outside of his room and completely oblivious to the looks from his co-workers. Once again, she gathered her things, preparing to make her way to Triple H's room, until she heard her name.

"And then they send some idiotic bitch to tell me what they were too afraid to say." Sophia turned around. "Look, I know you're pissed but I don't need you to call me names. I get enough of it from everyone else."

"Obviously you don't because what type of stupid bitch would come to a person's door and knock, just to stare at them? Hell, you ain't all that pleasant to look at anyway…"

As he droned on and on, Sophia fought to choke back the tears that were threatening to slide down her face. Each comment was like a knife gash to her heart. But she wouldn't allow him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She went to open her mouth again, but all that came forth was a strangled cry. His glare returned to her face and he made his last scathing comment.

"Oh god, the Ugly duckling is not only stupid, but she's a fucking cry baby. Jesus, you make me sick. Get the fuck out of my sight." With that, he stepped back into his room and slammed the door.

Sophia clutched the stack of papers to her chest and bit her lip in a desperate attempt to not shed a tear. Feeling eyes on her back, she turned around to see that the confrontation had gathered an audience, some of them such as Cameron and Cody Rhodes snickering and outright laughing. Others like Rey Mysterio were shaking their heads and looking at her with sympathy before walking away. She had no choice but to keep pushing ahead.

By the end of the day, Sophia heard 10 more scathing comments to her about her run in with the Taker. But as she got in her raggedy Toyota, she knew where she would find relief, and it was in the shape of a razor.


	2. My Own Personal Nightmare

Dave …

I pulled up to the arena parking lot with a lot on my mind. I had just woken up only 3 hours ago and I already had a headache. Trying to clear the cobwebs from my head, I grabbed my bags out of the car and headed inside. As usual, fans were bustling outside eager to meet their favorite wrestler and ring rats were pulling out all the stops to get me to pay attention to them. I signed a few autographs then headed inside. The building was overflowing with activity accompanied by the sounds of chatter from the surrounding staff. Nodding greetings to my coworkers, I made my way to my lockerroom and began to unpack. Wrestling had definitely changed from when I debuted in 2002. Mark, Amy, Jeff, Matt and Adam had retired so that left the two Paul's as the only veterans from the attitude era. I sat down on the bench holding my head in my hands. It seemed like Vince was letting anybody who said that they had so-called talent work in his business. Oh well, in the end it was his business not mine. I had started to get my wrestling attire out of my bag when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

Stephanie and Paul Levesque walked in smiling from ear to ear. To most unsuspecting people it was a kind gesture. To me it meant that something was up.

"Dave, what's going on man? How are you feeling?"

Truth was if I did tell him how I really felt, it would scare the shit out of him. Dave wasn't one to tell his deepest and darkest feelings, and he didn't give a damn what people thought about it. Dave wearing his heart on his sleeve didn't mean a damn thing. Melina was going to be the last female he let near his heart.

"I'm hanging in there. Mel's lawyer served me the divorce papers yesterday. Honestly, I'm wishing that I never married her crazy ass. But nooo, I had to have a Puerto Rican. God they don't say Puerto Ricans are crazy for nothing. I should have known that bitch was after me for my money. "

Paul shook his head. He knew that Melina was a bad apple from the moment that she stepped foot in the WWE. You could tell she was only in it for the fame and the perks that came with it. She was what he called a _ring-rat diva_. He had known Dave since they were in Evolution together and he still didn't understand why women like Melina were attracted to him, especially when he could do so much better. Now that he thought about it, he recalled the conversation that he and Vince had last night. That's when Paul told his him about the plan he concocted to trick Dave into getting a manager. It was a long shot, but it was definitely needed. He sighed as he remembered having Stephanie as a manager for the first time.

He met Stephanie at a script meeting for their new storyline 1 year after he had entered WWE. He, just like Dave didn't want a manager, fearing that it would do nothing but slow him down. 4 months afterwards he started to warm up to her and eventually they fell in love. 8 months later they were married. 1 ½ years later, Dave met Melina. Everything was cool at first, with the majority of people being happy for him, until she started getting in his ear. She started telling him that he was above everything and everyone and no one could tell him what to do and if they did he didn't have to listen. Like a fool he believed it and went around reigning terror on anyone that she felt was a threat. Until Mark better known as the "The Undertaker" knocked his ass back into the real world.

_Flashback… _

_The sound of the lockerroom door slamming against the wall disrupting Mark's train of thought. Behind it a gruff voice that sounded angry. "Just what I need. He hasn't even been here for a month and he's already raising hell." He was interrupted by a loud bang resounding in the room._

"_What the hell is everybody's problem today? Motherfuckers are jealous of me and because they can't fuck with me, they fuck with my girl? That shit ain't cool."_

_Mark listened from his position in the lockerroom as he continued to pack his gym bag. This young ass punk just didn't get it. His so-called fiancé was making him believe the hype that he was bigger than the company he worked for. Well, it was no matter, because he would end up following the traditional process called the 'card-drop'. It started with you being on top performing and doing promo's every minute. Then after a while you would drop to mid-card where you would still be seen, just not as much which basically let the WWE Universe know you were still hot, just losing steam. Finally, there was the low-card, where you were either backstage candy, or dropped completely. His ears perked up upon hearing his name._

"_And now everybody wants to tell me to go talk to 'The Undertaker' about what's going on. Scoff. Like his old ass can tell me anything about my life."_

_Sadly, he didn't hear the Deadman walk up behind him. Before he knew it, he knew it he had Dave up by his throat on the wall._

"_Do you follow whatever your bitch tells you, boy? Ain't you got a lick of sense in that cantaloupe head of yours?"_

"_What the fuck are you talking about, man? What the fuck are you doing in my business Calaway?"_

_The way he was talking to him right now wasn't making matters any better for him, if anything it was pissing him off. He tightened his grip. _

"_The way I see it, you'll be out of here in 6 months, maybe a year with that attitude. Now don't come in here badmouthing me because you can't get your shit in order with your broad. _

_Dave pushed against his arm, but it was no use. "Why the hell do you care? You know you're just jealous that you didn't get to her first. Then again, what would your old ass be able to do with her, except cough up dust?"_

"_At least I know when I'm being used by a female." Mark released his grip on the young man's throat, who fell back against the wall rubbing his sore throat. "Now you ain't gotta be friends with me, hell you ain't even got to say hi to me, but I will tell you this. Everybody's been talking about you, calling you a goddamn idiot because you don't see that she is using you to get up in rank. You deserve better than that, at least I think you do. Far as I'm concerned if you like it, I have no issue with that."_

_After that Mark grabbed his bag and left._

Since that day, reality had done more than smack him, it had kicked his ass.

This was mostly due to the fact that Melina and Steph were two women that handled relationships differently. Stephanie took a different approach to situations such as conflict, finances, and sex. Usually someone would have to cuss her pretty bad and become a threat to her family and friends to get her riled up. Melina on the other hand was like a category 5 hurricane with 400 mph winds and didn't really need a reason to go off on somebody. He could only hope that Val could control Mel and put her in her place if the time ever came when they would meet face to face.

"That's seriously screwed up. Oh yeah, we came by to tell you Vince wants to meet you in 5 minutes.

"What's the meeting about?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. Why don't we walk you down there?"

"Yeah, sure."

Hesitating for a moment, I stood up to my full height to straighten my suit. "Okay, I'm going to give whatever Vince is planning a chance. But if I don't like it, I'm walking out. Got it?"

"Got it."

5Minutes Later….

"What! Are you kidding me? Why do I need a manager out of all people?"

Vince took his glasses off, pinched the bridge of his nose in an agitated manner and began to speak.

"Well, we feel that your current "situation" at home has made you more of a beast in the ring lately. Before it was okay, because you're The Animal, Dave Bautista. But in the last 3 weeks I've gotten 10 complaints from Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Ryback, and Damien Sandow about you. They say you are being too rough in the ring and becoming increasingly difficult to work with."

When Vince finished speaking, he looked me squarely in the eye and gave me a look that said he wasn't changing his decision, no matter how much I begged.

I slumped back in my chair with a defeated look. "Well can I at least find out what the person looks like? From what Paul told me walking down here, it's a female." Vince hesitated slightly. "I can say that she has great work ethic, keeps track of scheduled appointments, plus you can help each other out with your anger problems."

I sighed. There was no way he was going to let me out of this room without agreeing. "Alright. I'll do it. But don't blame me if the girl comes back with a mental disorder."

Vince opened his mouth to add a rebuttal, but a feminine voice beat him to it.

"Girl? You clearly don't know what or who you're dealing with buddy."

I turned around in my chair to face quite possibly the smallest female I have ever seen in my life next to a midget. She couldn't have been any more than 4'9 or 5'0. But what caught me off guard was how beautiful she looked. Her skin reminded me of a European chocolate mixed with the perfect amount of caramel. Her facial features were small and delicate, but her eyes are what caught me off guard. They were bright green, even brighter than Mark's. My eyes moved further down, admiring her style. She was dressed in a grey pinstripe skirt suit with a silk baby blue shirt underneath. She was a little on the portly side but I could still make out the curves of her waist. That's when I noticed that her hips and bust were pretty big for her frame. I started to turn around before my eyes caught her sight of her legs. My god, this woman had legs that could easily rival Tina Turner's. I had to shake my head for a minute to get my thoughts together.

"Don't make me have to go off on you if I'm supposed to be working with you, _Mr._ _Batista. _I've been known to make a man lose his balls."

I turned towards Vince with pleading eyes, but he didn't care. "Dave, this is Valencia Burton . She is going to be your manager." I opened my mouth to say something but he cut me off. "Can you start today?"

She turned towards me with a condescending smirk. "Yes I can."

Vince pushed back his chair and stood up. "Well then. Everything is settled. I hope that all goes well Dave, and Valencia...you have my sympathy." With that, he got up and walked out the door. It was silent for about 6 minutes until I broke the silence.

"Well, it's just you and me." I said turning to face her. "Indeed it is, Mr. Batista." She replied sarcastically. The silence returned again. Looking at her posture, you could tell she was tired and anxious to finish her job. "What the hell are you looking at?" her voice broke through my train of thought. "Nothing…no reason at all." Pursing her lips slightly and rolling her eyes, she pulled a stack of papers out of her bag and handed it to me.

"Here's your schedule. I took the liberty of arranging all your appearances daily, autograph signings, scheduling time for you to spend time with your children, among other personal things. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." She then clasped her hands together and laid them in her lap.

Nervously, I glanced down, said a prayer and hoped that she lived up to the credit that Vince gave her. Whenever Vince tried to give me a PA, it never worked out. Either they would fuck up my schedule when they tried to sort it out, complain because it was too much work, bitch because I was grumpy in the morning, or I scared them to close to death. Surprisingly, everything was in order. She had even managed to work out 5 hours a week for my girls. Nodding my head in approval I glanced at the clock, noting it was 3:00. I figured she would want some time to get rested for tonight.

"Since my schedule is in order and RAW starts in about 6 hours. Why don't you head back to the hotel? I'll pick you up at 8. Sound fair?" I wasn't shocked by the look on her face, but I was a little ticked by her tone of voice. "Look, don't tell me what to do. I might be your personal assistant but I still take my orders from Vince. Got it?" I held my hand up to stop her. This woman was slowly working my nerves with her attitude. I had done nothing to harm this girl, yet she was giving me problems like I did something to her. "I don't know what your fucking problem is, but as long as you're working with me you will not give me attitude, understand? I can make this easy or I can make your life a living hell. Which would you prefer?" She smirked, before she walked over towards the door.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Bautista?"

"Yes?"

"I don't need you to pick me up. I have my own car. I'm sure you don't want people to think that we are together."

I leaned my head back, rolling my shoulders around. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

Valencia…

3:30-Mandarian Oriental Hotel

After arriving at the hotel I set about getting things that I needed before _Mr. Batista_ picked me up. Looking around the room, I decided to read. Surprisingly, I found myself thinking about him. He seemed like a good natured person with a good natured attitude, at least from what I had seen on television. When Vince told me I was to be Dave's assistant, I researched and watched everything I could find on him. Personally, the guy was too damn cocky. I shook my head. "I always get stuck with chauvinistic assholes." I set the alarm on my phone for 7:30 and turned over.

4 Hours Later…

I woke up to the alarm on my phone ringing. I rubbed my eyes and stretched before I got out of the bed. I grabbed a fresh pair of underclothes and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. 20 minutes later, I walked out feeling better. I quickly slipped on my suit but after a quick inspection thought better of it. "Didn't he say that RAW was 2 hours long?"Surely I didn't want to be uncomfortable for those 2 hours, and then again why did I give two flying fucks about what he thought. I had just finished when I heard a 3 sharp knocks on the door. Grabbing everything I needed, I opened the door to see him smirking.

"Hello Mr. Batista."

"How are you Valencia? Are you ready to go?"

"Well I'm standing here outside my door with everything I need. I think I am ready."

He rolled his eyes as I closed the door and we started walking towards his car. He opened the passenger door, letting me inside. He shut the door and hopped into the driver's seat and drove off. After 10 minutes of silence, he began to speak.

"You know, since we are going to be working together, you can call me by my first name okay?"

"Whatever."

He looked over towards me for a second with a hint of agitation clearly written on his face.

"You know, you don't have to be such a smart ass about everything. I'm only trying to get along with you so we can work together."

"Yeah, right. Like anyone gives a shit about become friends with me. You act like I haven't heard about you and what you're all about."

He snorted then replied, "And what would that be?"

I turned in my seat to get a better view of his expression when I told him how I really felt.

"That you're a chauvinistic asshole who uses women for you own sexual desires simply because you feel like you're god's gift to women just because you're mixed. Then we have your credibility as a steroid user which frankly I don't dispute because there is no way in hell that muscles are supposed to look like _that_. Then we come to your so-called "anger problem" where personally I think you're just angry that you're dick hides behind your balls and no woman that you care to fuck tries to find them for you . Did I hit the nail on the head?"

He pulled his attention from the road to look at me. The look on his face didn't really surprise me. It was a mix between frustration and humor. "So that's all you got? I take it your waiting on me to tell you how I feel about you. I look back at him with a disapproving glare.

"I really don't give a shit what of think of me, but you have piqued my curiosity. Tell me Dave. Enlighten me as to what your impression of me is.

"I think that you're a beautiful woman….that feels insecure because your short and the only thing you have going for you is your ass and tits which are humongous by the way. Then we have your so-called 'rage problem' that Vince tells me that I should be aware of. Let me tell you right now, I will never be afraid of some midget that throws temper tantrums when she doesn't get her dose of lucky charms. So there, we are settled. We both have anger issues, so we won't cross each other unless we have to, got it?"

I sat back in the car seat smirking to myself. Now that was settled, I wouldn't have to worry about him trying thinking I was a pushover.

We finally pulled up to the arena and grab the things in the car. We walked up to the security guard, who nodded at Dave. His gaze then rested on me. "Does she have a pass?"

I held my head down in frustration, but only to keep from saying a smart ass comment. I know I have my backstage pass around my neck. Dave sees it, I know this douche bag sees it and I know it's around my neck.

"Umm...Yes she does. It's around her neck. See?" he pulled the pass off my chest and showed it to him. The guard bent down and squinted hard inspecting it. His eyes floated between me and the pass. After a minute, he stood up to his full height. "Alright, she can go." "Took you long enough." I rolled my eyes as we continued on our way towards the door. As I made my way through it, I felt eyes on my back. I turned around see the security guard looking me like I was a piece of meat and licking his lips. I shook my head in disgust. Picking up my bags, I was more than eager to start the night. My mind went back to Dave telling me how wild the WWE can get. "Well, what's the worst that can happen?" I didn't know how true my words would ring.


	3. Eww, A Creep!

Valencia …

By the end of the night, I was practically in the fetal position, begging Dave to let me go home. My job hadn't stopped since we walked into the building. As we heard from the mouth of Jerry Lawler, The American Badass was back, and he wasn't happy. He proceeded to beat the hell out of DDP for stalking his wife at their ranch in Texas and from there it all went downhill. Afterwards, I rushed back to the lockerroom, finished my duties and asked Dave to let me have the rest of the night off, but he wouldn't, simply because he wanted to be an asshole. I guess I deserved it, considering that I've been in bitch mode since we met.

"How the hell do you deal with this shit?" I covered my ears to stop the intruding noises from giving me a headache. I may have small ears, but I sure as hell didn't want them to be filled with the bullshit from outside our room.

Dave was getting dressed since he finished his match with Mr. Kennedy within the first hour of the show. This was another superstar I had the misfortune to know. We ran into each other at catering, literally. He offered to help me up while I was still in shock of what happened; you know the whole "I ran into what felt like a brick wall" thing. But what pissed me off was how he was copping a feel on my ass while he pulled me to a standing position. I guess the asshole didn't count on me saying anything about it, but I did. Words were traded, insults were given, but it wasn't enough for him. Nooo, he just had to call me "C" word as I was walking away. That's when I knocked his ass out. You could only imagine the bashing I got from the boss; then again, I didn't care. He was trash and he deserved it.

"I don't know what shit you're talking about. Please specify."

I stood up and walked over towards him, making sure I was standing in his view. When he finally looked up, I couldn't help but catch my breath. His dark brown eyes were hypnotizing, drawing me in deeper. I studied his face a little longer, acknowledging his facial features, from the slightly dark lips and cheeks, to his dark eyebrows and long eyelashes. I couldn't explain it, but part of me wanted to reach out and caress his face, while the other half wanted to, no, _needed to_ stay professional. This man was dangerous. I could only mentally smack myself in the head, wondering why I had to be put with him. Being around him gave me strange feelings, the type that a husband and wife should have, not two complete strangers who only met each other hours ago. Feelings like this only lead to problems, which I needed to avoid at all cost since I was still on probation. My PO would love nothing more than to put my ass under the damn jail for anything she saw fit.

"What are you staring at so damn hard that you can't hear me when I'm talking to you?" I blinked a couple times before his words registered. Now those same brown orbs were filled with curiosity. Damn, he caught me staring.

"You said how do I deal with this shit, by shit you mean the craziness that goes on around here?"

"Yeah"

"Well it comes with the territory. Some of us can hack it, some of us can't. I just block it out, unless it involves me. "

I backed up 3 steps but didn't let him out of my sight. He took that as his queue to start asking questions.

"So…you and Kennedy…what made you jump on him?"

I smirked as I recounted what had occurred. "That's what the hell he gets. He's always feeling on the women around here. You won't believe how many sexual assault complaints he has against him." I could detect a hint of anger in his voice.

"Well, it'll never happen again because I'm gonna do whatever it takes to avoid him," I replied, confidently walking away from him and heading towards the door. From his body language, he still wasn't comfortable.

"Val?"

"Yeah"

"Stay away from that security guard. Don't ask. If you have to be around him, keep your eye on him"

I grimaced in his direction before walking out the door.

Dave…

I watched as she walked out the door. I could only hope that she heeded my words. That security guard had watched her as she entered the building and for some reason I felt the need to protect her. It made no sense but usually when you're conscience kicks in, something bad is bound to happen. I shouldn't even feel this way about her. She's just an assistant. For some awkward reason, I started missing her but I quickly dismissed those thoughts from my head.

Valencia…

I made my way down the hallway towards catering so I could pick up some water for Dave. I didn't know if both of our brains were on the same wave lengths or maybe we got the same creepy feeling when we passed the security guard. Whatever it is, I'm definitely going to take his words to heart. I pull out of my thoughts just in time to run into someone's back.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you standing there." Whoever it was, their back felt like a cinder block wall. I stood up so I could look over myself, making sure that I didn't have any bumps or bruises. When I was satisfied with the results, I looked up into a face. But not just any face, the one and only Undertaker.

"Sorry I didn't check on you after I knocked you down. Hell, I didn't even feel ya run into me." He held his hand out for me to shake. "My name is Mark, but on screen I go by..."

"The Undertaker" I finished for him. I knew this had to be too good to be true. Me, Valencia Burton shaking hands and talking with _the_ Deadman. I couldn't even form words. I was basically standing there with my mouth open.

"Uh sweetheart, you might want to close your mouth before flies get in. I know I'm handsome but all that isn't called for."

I closed my mouth. Maybe if I try really hard, I'll get my train of thought back. "My name is Valencia. I'm Dave's…"  
"Personal assistant. Everyone here has heard about you but I think I'm the only one that has seen you. If you're willing, I'll introduce you to everybody." I thought about it for a minute. Since Dave and I exchanged numbers earlier in the lockerroom, I decided to text him to let him know what I was going to be doing. "Okay, now that's settled, let's go."

For the rest of the night I was led around the arena and introduced to anyone and everyone who was either currently working in the WWE or were alumni. By the time Mark and I talked to the last person, I was tired and out of breath.

"Valencia, this is my good friend and on-screen brother, Kane." Once again I was l had to crane my neck to look at the entire 7 ft of the big red machine. I don't know why I expected to see a scowl etched on his face, but I was pleasantly shocked when he had a smile on his face.

"Hi, my name is Glen. You must be Valencia." I grinned when he kissed my hand. "How does it feel being a part of the WWE?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "It feels...weird. I guess when I come in tomorrow I'll get the full impact." We talked for a little longer before I glanced at my iphone. Batista had texted my 3 times telling me that when I was ready he would be in the parking lot. "Okay guys I gotta go. Thanks for introducing me to everybody Mark. Nice meeting you Glen. I gave both a hug and kiss on the cheek before racing out the door to catch him. "Damn it I forgot my stuff." Starting to go back into the building, I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. I turned around preparing to fight, until I saw who it was.

"Don't worry I got your stuff out of the lockerroom when I picked mine up. You ready to go now?"

"Yeah. Let's go am I booked in a room myself?" He looked my way and smiled. I should have known that didn't mean good news. He was up to something sneaky.

"You can say that"


	4. Now I Get It!

Dave…

Before going back to the hotel, Valencia and I wanted to stop at Taco Bell. I never thought I'd see the day when someone of her size eat 3 five layer burritos and a large Baja Mountain Dew. I simply got an enchilada with a medium Code Red Mountain Dew. We sat in the back of restaurant so we wouldn't be seen. I took this opportunity to question her about the tour she took with Mark.

"How did it feel to meet everyone?" I watched her get a dreamy look in her eyes. "It was great! I met Cena, Kane, the Funkadactyles, and Brodus. Oh and Taker introduced me to Roddy Piper! It was awesome. I laughed as she continued to rattle off the talent that she had the fortune to meet. It was nice to see that she wasn't mean all the time. Speaking of which, it wouldn't be too bad of a time to ask her about her attitude.

"So, not to sound too brash but, what's up with your attitude? Is there a reason behind it?" I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to make her angry considering that she was so small, but held so much fire. I guess I hit a sore spot because she went from being happy to pissed off.

Valencia…

Great! I was having a good time until this asshole asked me the one question that I have been trying to avoid all my life. I desperately wanted to explain it to him, but for some reason my brain took it as a snide comment. Before I could catch myself, I uttered the first thought that came to mind.

"Why do you want to know? Does it entertain you for me to act this way? Do you get a kick out of this?" I didn't know why I was so pissed. I guess it was because I had been asked that question my entire life. After a while it starts to get irritating and you start thinking show them better than you can tell them. God, I hated coming off as a complete bitch. Still that didn't change my facial features. I did want to know why he wanted to know so much about me. He took time to wipe his hand before getting up to throw away his trash. When he came back, he had his keys in his hand. He simply said, "When you stop being a bitch long enough to notice when someone actually has concern for you, let me know. Until then I'll be in the car." After he left I mulled over what to do to fix this problem between us. I needed to get everything out in the open, but in order to do that I would need to tell him everything about my life. I huffed as I got up to throw my trash away. That's it! I'm gonna tell him, damn the consequences. I head outside towards the car. I can see Dave's silhouette in the driver's seat but his head is down. Walking closer and closer to the car, my anxiety gets worse with each step. Finally, I knock on the window to let him know I'm here. He doesn't look my way but I hear the door unlock. I get into the car and keep quiet the entire ride back to the hotel room. As we stepped into the hotel room and put our things on the floor he walked over to the phone. "What do you want to eat?" I started to answer, but there was something another issue that needed attention.

"Dave, we need to talk."

Dave…

Oh, so now she wants to talk? If I wanted to be a prick I would tell her to fuck off, but for some reason I want to know what's going on in that head of hers. Something terribly had to happen to her while she was growing up. I think for a moment before I sit down on the bed next to her and lean back on the pillow. "Okay. Talk"

Valencia…

I released the breath that I didn't know I was holding. But now I ran into another issue: where do I start? I figured that I would just start from the beginning. It was easier and it cut out the unnecessary questions. Taking a deep breath, I started my story. "Growing up, my mother was, or better yet is, an alcoholic. Whenever I would go to school, I would be harassed by the kids at school. They would tell me the things that they heard their parents say about my mother, who she had sex with, what she did to the guy, etc. I was too young to understand it but I would often wonder, "How do they know this?" and "Why are they telling me these things?" I asked my grandmother and she told me that she didn't even know." The more I spoke, the faster I got comfortable. "I don't really remember much about my preteens or my early teens. Until I turned 15. I gulped audibly. This was the hardest part of my story not only because it had so much to do with my anger issue, but it was main reason why my mother and I stayed away from each other. As my grandmother said, we're like oil and water." I looked up at his face. It was unreadable. I sighed. I guess that I told too much too soon.

"So you were that girl in the Detroit chronicle wrote that article about? You had an issue with your mother's boyfriend because he…"

"Sexually assaulted me. I told the police but the only thing they did was talk to him." Just thinking about it was bringing tears to my eyes. "Shit, everybody on the street practically knew what happened except her. I got so angry because she wouldn't believe me, and I started to lash out. But the situation didn't get any better when I got to high school." Dave scoffed. "Do you know how many people get bullied? You're not the only one, sweetheart." I looked up at him with anger swimming in my eyes and heat flowing through my veins. Yes, I knew that kids got bullied every day that I wasn't the only one, but you were told to go to an adult and they would sort the problem out for you. I didn't have that option.

"Dave, do you know how it feels to be bullied not only by your senior class, but by the adults? To get on the internet and find that people are talking about you? Not being able to go to school or anywhere for the mere fact that people talking about you as if you aren't there? It hurts, a lot! I damn near lost my life because of it! It got so bad that I would walk into the building and literally see blood, just imagining myself cutting, stabbing, ripping skin from bones." I couldn't take it anymore. I ran from the bedroom into the television room and sat with my knees drawn up to my chest. It was so hard trying to explain to others my predicament. It wasn't as if I chose to have an anger problem, but you try smiling when you feel like crying. I felt the tears come to my eyes but they didn't spill down my cheeks. I had come too far to spill tears over a story that I had told countless times.

Dave…

Wow! That explains everything. It was good that she got out her frustrations, but how was I going to approach her now? On one hand, I could come off as a complete asshole, or tell her what I really thought. I chose the latter, so I got up to follow her into the television room. The sight before my eyes destroyed me inside. Val had her head resting on her knees. Taking a deep breath, I walked over and sat next to her. "You know that just looking at you; I would have never thought that happened to you." She didn't look up. Taking her chin in my hand, I pulled her head up so she could look at me while I was talking.

"If it makes you feel any better, I won't judge you, not ever. And I hope that you don't think that you're weak because of that. If anything, you are one of the strongest women that I had ever met. For that I'm grateful." There was a beat between us. Then she shocked me. She hugged me and smiled, and not a half-ass smile either. It was a full-fledged smile. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how long I've struggled with thinking that it was my entire fault. Almost everyone told me that."

On instinct, I hugged her back. I couldn't help it, I was a hugger. "Now, can we_ please _eat now? I'm starving!"


End file.
